Beating adversity: Oberlin's Hugh Thornton living his dream in the NFL

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Idianapolis Colts and Oberlin graduate Hugh Thornton is shown running a drill during the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis earlier this year. Thornton was drafted by the Colts in the third round.

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Colts' Hugh Thornton, left, participates in a blocking drill with teammate Robert Griffin during NFL rookie minicamp earlier this year in Indianapolis.

Hugh Thornton knows what adversity is all about.

Thornton overcame a difficult childhood including the loss of his mother and sister, moving all across the country before finding a home in Oberlin. Five years after coming to Oberlin, Thornton has made it to a place where all young football players dream of being but few ever reach: the National Football League.

The former Phoenix and Illinois Fighting Illini offensive lineman was selected in the third round of April's NFL Draft by the Indianapolis Colts and will report to his first pro training camp on July 27 where he has a chance to block for Andrew Luck and one of the best young teams in the league.

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Thornton never could have imagined when he played his senior year at Oberlin that five years later, he was going to suit up for an NFL franchise. Even though he is a Colt now, Thornton still keeps close ties with the community that helped him get closer to his dream.

"For me at the time, my main concern was leaving my legacy at Oberlin and changing the culture of the program and the players that are a part of it," he said. "Some of my best friends are from that team that I had at Oberlin. Some of my greatest mentors and people I look up to are coaches that I had at Oberlin."

Thornton suffered a huge tragedy early in his life after moving to Jamaica when his parents divorced. He witnessed his mother and sister murdered when he was 12 and eventually moved to Boise to live with his father. Before his senior year of high school, Thornton moved from Boise to live with his aunt in Oberlin, where his mother got her high school diploma.

It didn't take long for Oberlin to feel like home for him.

"My family had ties to the community. They welcomed me with welcome arms," Thornton said. "I was able to grow and learn from a lot of great mentors that I had while I was in Oberlin. To be able to be at this stage in life and on this platform representing my community, I do consider Oberlin and Lorain County my community. It's overwhelming, it's exciting, it's a blessing."

Thornton enrolled at the University of Illinois in 2009 over offers from schools such as Michigan State, Oregon State and Washington State, and quickly found his way onto the starting lineup. In 42 games played, Thornton started 35 times, including seven at right tackle as a true freshman and ten as the left tackle as a senior.

Like his early life, Thornton's college career had a few speed bumps along the way. He was arrested as a freshman after a bar fight in which he used a fake ID to enter.

The Illini were also inconsistent during his four years, reaching bowl games in 2010 and 2011 but finishing dead last in the Big Ten in 2012 after the school replaced Ron Zook with former Toledo coach Tim Beckman.

"I don't have any regrets in college," Thornton said. "I went out there and put my heart out on the field every time I stepped on. Looking back at it, I developed some of the greatest friendships that I have today while I was in college and while I was playing college football. Now to carry those relationships over into the pros, it's exciting."

Among his greatest memories of college football, Thornton particularly remembers the two times his Fighting Illini traveled to Columbus to play Ohio State.

"Being from Ohio and considering myself a part of the Lorain community and Oberlin community, it was just exciting to be able to go against the home state team," he said. "Even though we didn't win, I don't think there's any greater feeling than to come back and show everybody how much you've grown up as a player."

On April 26, Thornton reached his dream of becoming an NFL player as he was drafted by the Colts with the 86th pick of the draft. At that moment, Thornton reflected on all the people that helped him reached his dream and overcome tragedy along the way.

"The first thing that came to my mind was just knowing that my mom would have been so proud that I was able to grow up and follow my dreams and finally get that opportunity to have a career in something that I'm extremely passionate about," he said. "The first thing was just how proud my mom would have been of me."

Thornton quickly signed a four-year rookie deal with $2.7 million. He will compete for the starting job at right guard and is thrilled to play for one of the NFL's most promising teams.

"I"m very fortunate to be a part of the organization," he said. "It doesn't stop with Andrew Luck. It's from the top to the bottom of the program. Everybody from the head coach (Chuck Pagano) to the general manager (Ryan Grigson), the owner (Jim Irsay) to the coaches, the players, the staff, to the people that prepare our meals for us, it's just an incredible, phenomenal staff, phenomenal teammates that I have now. I'm excited to move forward."

Grigson told the Indianapolis media after drafting Thornton that it was his performance through all four years at Illinois -- starting at four different spots on the line -- and particularly at the Senior Bowl that caught their attention and convinced them to select him.